It is desirable to provide a method that can attach a connector to an optical fiber in the field without the use of a ferrule. The use of a ferrule to align fibers is complex, expensive and difficult to install in the field. The present invention is directed to a method of using heat recoverable tubing and adhesive to attach an optical fiber to an optical fiber connector without the use of a ferrule. Tubing is widely used in optical and electrical systems in a variety of environments and applications. Adhesion to glass fibers or aluminum within such tubing can be important in some applications. Delamination or lacking adhesion can be detrimental to the operation of such systems, thereby causing operational interruptions for repair or replacement.
Known adhesives have not been able to meet the requirements of some environments. Current hot melt adhesives are usually polyethylene copolymers, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate and ethylene ethyl acrylate or polyamides. Such hot melts do not provide adequate adhesion to glass fiber at 70° C., thereby limiting use in certain applications. Polyamide hot melts are not able to be used in extrusion of microtubing or coextrusion with polyethylene because they create clogs, thereby preventing them from being used to produce single layer or dual-layer microtubing. Thermosetting adhesives are chemically reactive when heated at extrusion with polyethylene, thereby preventing them from being used to produce dual-layer microtubing.
A method for attaching a portable connector device, an adhesive, and a tube assembly that show improvements over the prior art would be desirable in the art.